Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.

Law firm where law and business meet, based in Minneapolis with offices in Bismarck, Des Moines, Fargo, Mexico and Shanghai, China.

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Iowa Employment Law Blog

Iowa House Seeks to Impose New Obligations and Liabilities on Employers

By Patrick Smith

January 31, 2020

Compared with many states, Iowa’s laws governing the employment relationship are generally pretty employer friendly. But, if some members of the Iowa House of Representatives get their way this legislative session, that will change in a hurry. House members have introduced no fewer than twenty-one bills (21!) that add new or expand existing obligations and potential liability on employers. The number of proposed bills dealing with employment issues is unprecedented, and it is not easy to…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Who is the Employer? Department of Labor Tries to Clarify the Rules Governing Joint Employment

By Patrick Smith

January 21, 2020

Although “joint employment” is not a new legal concept, in recent years federal agencies such as the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board have made aggressive efforts to expand its application. The targets of those who seek to expand the concept of joint employment are typically employers who use independent contractors (common in the construction industry), those who hire vendors to perform certain tasks (e.g. janitorial services), employers that rely upon a staffing…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

NLRB Finishes 2019 with a Flourish, Correcting Some of the Excesses from the Board’s Activist Era.

By Patrick Smith

December 31, 2019

As many employers recall with chagrin, the National Labor Relations Board and its General Counsel were very active during the Obama administration, overturning long-established precedent, changing rules in a way that favored unions over employers, and inserting itself into employment issues where the Board traditionally had not acted. The NLRB, now with a majority of seats held by Republicans, has just this month issued a number of new rules and rulings rolling back some…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Iowa Supreme Court Rejects Wrongful-Discharge Claim for Violations of Workplace-Drug-Testing Statute

By Brandon Underwood

December 20, 2019

Back in October, we covered then upcoming oral arguments at the Iowa Supreme Court in Ferguson v. Exide Technologies. Last week, the Court issued its opinion in that case. The principal question in Ferguson was whether an employee may sue her employer for wrongful discharge in violation of the public policy established in Iowa’s drug-testing statute. The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that some statutes establish well-defined public policies and that employees fired in violation…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

New NLRB Rule Will Slow Down “Quickie” Union Elections

By Patrick Smith

December 17, 2019

On December 13 the National Labor Relations Board announced amendments to a controversial 2014 election rule issued under the Obama era NLRB. The amended rule will be published on December 18, and is scheduled to go into effect 120 days later, on April 16, 2020. The union friendly 2014 rule, widely described as providing for “quickie” elections, drastically reduced the number of days between a union’s filing of a petition for election and the election…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Eighth Circuit Reverses $700k Verdict in Wage and Hour Case based upon Non-Compliance with Scheduling Order

By Patrick Smith

October 31, 2019

It’s not very often an appellate court takes away a jury verdict because of the trial court’s discretionary ruling to extend a deadline. The case is Petrone v. Werner Enterprises (8th Cir. 10/10/2019). Student drivers for Werner Enterprises brought a FLSA collective action for alleged unpaid wages earned during an eight weeks student-driver training program. The plaintiffs alleged they were entitled to wages for time spent on short rest breaks and while resting in their…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Iowa Supreme Court to Address whether Wrongful-Discharge Claim Supplements Remedy in Workplace-Drug-Testing Statute

By Brandon Underwood

October 14, 2019

It’s October, and the Iowa Supreme Court’s term is in full swing. Next week the Court will hear argument in Ferguson v. Exide Technologies (No. 18-1600). The case addresses whether an employee may bring a tort claim against her employer if she’s discharged in violation of Iowa’s statute regulating workplace drug testing. This is an important case for not only employers, but also court watchers. First some background. In Iowa, as in most every other…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

What Does the Future Hold for EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the Use of Criminal Background Checks?

By Patrick Smith

August 27, 2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a potentially game-changing decision earlier this month on the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on criminal background checks. The case is State of Texas v EEOC (5th Cir. 8/6/2019). An applicant rejected for employment at the Texas Department of Public Safety filed a complaint with EEOC, alleging the Department’s no-felon policy violated Title VII because it has a disparate impact on African American applicants. EEOC’s investigation…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Iowa Supreme Court 2018-2019 Term in Review: Labor and Employment Edition (Part II)

By Brandon Underwood

August 20, 2019

As employment cases go, the 2018–2019 adjudicative term (covered in Part I here) may go down as a year of missed chances. In Hawkins v. Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Patrick Smith wrote in June, the Justices failed to address an emotional-distress award’s excessiveness and the permissibility of a “golden rule” argument used in closing. So too in Hedlund v. State, where the Court sidestepped whether courts should stick to the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting…

Iowa Employment Law Blog

Can You Prove Your Employees Consented to the Arbitration Agreement in the Employee Handbook?

By Patrick Smith

August 7, 2019

Arbitration continues to be popular with many employers. Two significant factors driving employers to arbitration, and away from state and federal courts, are the potential for lower defense costs and reduced risk of runaway jury awards that seem to be more common than ever before. Many lawyers think the benefits of arbitration are overstated and the costs understated, but the trend nonetheless is for more arbitration. Of course, before an employee can be compelled to…

Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.

Iowa House Seeks to Impose New Obligations and Liabilities on Employers

Who is the Employer? Department of Labor Tries to Clarify the Rules Governing Joint Employment

NLRB Finishes 2019 with a Flourish, Correcting Some of the Excesses from the Board’s Activist Era.

Iowa Supreme Court Rejects Wrongful-Discharge Claim for Violations of Workplace-Drug-Testing Statute

New NLRB Rule Will Slow Down “Quickie” Union Elections

Eighth Circuit Reverses $700k Verdict in Wage and Hour Case based upon Non-Compliance with Scheduling Order

Iowa Supreme Court to Address whether Wrongful-Discharge Claim Supplements Remedy in Workplace-Drug-Testing Statute

What Does the Future Hold for EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the Use of Criminal Background Checks?

Iowa Supreme Court 2018-2019 Term in Review: Labor and Employment Edition (Part II)

Can You Prove Your Employees Consented to the Arbitration Agreement in the Employee Handbook?

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